Cadillac Puts Diesel Engine Development On Hold, Will Focus On Electrification

In a rather unsurprising turn of events, Cadillac has announced that it puts the development of diesel engines on hold due the rapid shift to electrified powertrains.

Steve Carlisle, President of Cadillac, confirmed the news during the XT4’s launch event, saying that the company is re-evaluating its diesel strategy.

“We have been working on diesel, but the markets may be changing more quickly than we anticipated,” he said to Automotive News. “Going forward, we will focus on electrification.”

Cadillac has been working on a range of four- and six-cylinder diesel engines for quite some time now, as part of the brand’s strategy to expand in the European market and offer some diesel models in the US as well.

The new XT4 was supposed to gain a diesel variant by 2020 or earlier, with the company also expected to introduce diesel engines in more models. There’s a chance that this still might happen but, for now, Carlisle said that their diesel program is on ice.

The first obstacles for Cadillac’s diesel development can be traced back to 2015, when the VW dieselgate scandal first broke out. Back then, the company’s executives felt that development of the new engines was far too progressed to kill the program. The next blow came last year, when GM decided to sell Opel, which was a development partner in the diesel program. Despite this, Cadillac decided to continue with the project alone.

Carlisle said that diesel technology still has a role to play in the industry, especially in trucks. However, until further notice, future Cadillacs are all about electrified powertrains.